Apparatus for positioning are already known, and have a feed beam which interacts with a lateral stop arranged fixedly at the edge of the metal feed table perpendicularly to the cutting plane. The disadvantage of the known mechanisms is that the sheet metal plates guided along the lateral stop to the cutting knife are always cut at the same place, so that it is not possible to form several stacks of plate sections next to one another. Difficulties also arise when plate edges are trimmed, since the lateral stop causes an obstruction when the sheet metal plate is manipulated.